In a statement to E! Online, Pitt said, “It grieves me that this was interpreted this way. Jen is an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman who remains my friend. It is an important relationship I value greatly.”

He added, “The point I was trying to make is not that Jen was dull, but that I was becoming dull to myself — and that, I am responsible for.”

After dishing on Aniston, 42, in “Parade,” Pitt bragged about how fulfilled he is now that he has joined Jolie, 36, on her many goodwill crusades around the world.

“I put much more emphasis on being a satisfied man,” he told the mag.

“Happiness is overrated. There has to be conflict in life. You get to a plateau, and you’re spurred on to the next plateau, the next direction the next season.

“I’m satisfied with making true choices and finding the woman I love, Angie, and building a family that I love so much.”

Pitt told Parade that he and Jolie “home-school” their kids and, if they are out of town for a while, they fly their children’s pals out to wherever they are.

He called Jolie “a great mom,” but said he still has no plans to marry her. “We’ll get married when everyone can,” he said, in a reference to the couple’s support of same-sex marriages.

He also gushed: “Oh, man, I’m so happy to have her.

“With a partner like Angie, I know that when I’m working, the kids are happy, safe and prospering. And when Angie’s working, she knows she has the same.”

He glowingly added, “One of the smartest things I ever did was give my kids Angie as their mom.”

Pitt meanwhile talked at length about his activism with Jolie, including their adopting kids from around the world.

“I’ll tell you why: I hit the lottery — the whole cliché of moving to Hollywood and getting paid silly amounts of money,’’ he said. “I’ve traveled the world and seen mothers and babies dying because they don’t have a 30-cent treatment that is available in industrialized nations.

“I feel like I have to share whatever I can. You’re culpable if you don’t act.”

Parade asked Pitt why he and Jolie adopted kids from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam instead of the United States.

“I can’t place the importance of one child over that of any other,” he replied. “I have seen children suffer far beyond what we experience in America — like our oldest daughter [Zahara]. I know she would not be alive [if she hadn’t been adopted]. I know what care was available to her, and it was nil.

“I guess I just don’t see America as separate from Vietnam or Ethiopia.

“This mentality of our team’s better than yours — it’s a high school idea. My kids don’t see those dividing lines, and I don’t want to either.”

He described his kids’ home-schooling as superior to the education others get.

“Our kids can get through the normal school day — what took eight hours in a public school — as well as homework in four hours or so in home school,’’ he said.

“It allows extra time to develop their other interests –music, sports.”

The “Ocean’s Eleven” star said his kids with Jolie were the key to enrichment:

“I’ve learned so much about myself though them. I’ve become a better person because of them. They are so sharp.”

People have suggested that given his activism, he might someday decide to run for public office.

“I have no desire to be in politics because I want to live free, and I don’t know how you can do that as a politician,” the star insisted.

“For one thing, I would be like making Bushisms, like, every third day,’’ he quipped.